Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman

6 reviews

mjkouele's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Self harm, Mental illness, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

jpt007's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book is a masterpiece. It’s been years since I’ve had the chance to read it but after coming across a reel in Instagram I decided to seek it out.

Characters- 5/5*
Beautifully fleshed out. So much so that at time it’s very painful. I just wish I could give Kaden a big hug but I doubt that would do much good. Every character is so deep (pun intended).

Conflict- 5/5*
I don’t cry when reading books very often. I cried. I don’t know how Shusterman is able to put it to words so effortlessly but it was exactly right.

Plot- 5/5*

It shouldn’t have been that enthralling but it was. I did not want to stop reading it. Not even to get my sleep.

Setting- 5/5* 
Well developed and cryptic when it needed to be. The way he blended the two world together was seamless.

Theme- 5/5*

But it’s not going to happen today—and there is a deep, abiding comfort in that. Deep enough to carry me through till tomorrow.

Overall Score: 5/5⭐️

Read this book it is to good to not read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Suicide, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Sexual assault and Rape

Minor: Vomit and Suicide attempt

ms_sarah621's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Mental illness, Medical content, Forced institutionalization, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Incest and Sexual assault

ghostwitch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Vomit, Self harm, Rape, and Torture

maryy_r0se's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

“Sometimes there are moments when we objectively face the never, and it overwhelms us.”

Caden is a high schooler. 𝘊𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘸 𝘮𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱. His behavior is changing. 𝘏𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘢 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘋𝘦𝘦𝘱. His friends are distancing from him. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘵. His parents are concerned. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯. He feels himself unwinding. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨. 

This book really affected me. While compiling a list of YA mental health books for work, it was important to me to include a wide array of experiences. Most YA mental health books focus on depression and anxiety, and it’s very very difficult to find books that approach topics like psychosis and schizophrenia sensitively.

Caden is not definitively diagnosed in the story, although it does seem implied he has schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. I do not have either of those, so I won’t assess that representation. It was difficult to find reviews from individuals who have those disorders, but from the few I did find this book seems to represent them well. I do have bipolar disorder, and I thought that book really captured the extreme moods and psychosis excellently. 

I think what made this book really stand out was the input from Neal’s son, Brendan. Brendan has schizoaffective disorder and the book was influenced by his experience. He consulted on and illustrated this book, and it added a very personal element. I would definitely recommend this book. My favorite scene was the NYC flashback and the moments surrounding it; the way the book came together and fell apart in those moments was breathtaking.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Ableism, Forced institutionalization, Mental illness, Confinement, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Animal death, Medical trauma, Medical content, Self harm, and Sexual assault

meagangrace's review against another edition

challenging dark hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Suicide, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Forced institutionalization, Death, and Blood

Minor: Sexual assault and Animal death